Do you enjoy the programs and services the library provides? We’re looking for a group of library users who want to support and enhance those offerings!

The Friends of the Library engage in fundraising and volunteer efforts to help promote and sustain library activities. While not a lot of time is required to be a Friend, the group’s work always has a positive impact on the library and its users!

Past Friends’ groups have provided funds for the library’s popular Summer Reading Program; raised money through book and bake sales, as well as raffle baskets and events; and helped purchase materials for the library.

Typically, Friends of the Library groups meet as often as they need (which doesn’t have to be often, at all) to plan future events and activities.

If you’re interested in contributing whatever time you can toward making the library an even better place to visit, contact Lisa at lpalmer@rcls.org.

Many thanks to former Friends Adrienne Gelfand-Perine, Debbie Newman, and Marla Landsman for all their hard work!

Celebrate the season from 12-4 p.m. Saturday, May 6, at the Community Spring Fest in Kingston!

Enjoy food, vendors, live music, DJs, art, and more at the Sojourner Truth State Park event. You can catch free shuttles to and from the park at the Kingston Area Library, the YMCA parking lot at 507 Broadway, and the Friends of Historic Kingston at 63 Main Street.

The Ulster County Library Association will offer three storytimes at the event, as well, at 1 p.m., 2 p.m., and 3 p.m.! For more information, visit Scenic Hudson.org.

Our next selection is The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, by Grady Hendrix. Our next meeting is at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 24.

From Goodreads...

Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias meet Dracula in this Southern-flavored supernatural thriller set in the '90s about a women's book club that must protect its suburban community from a mysterious and handsome stranger who turns out to be a blood-sucking fiend. -- from Goodreads

Patricia Campbell had always planned for a big life, but after giving up her career as a nurse to marry an ambitious doctor and become a mother, Patricia's life has never felt smaller. The days are long, her kids are ungrateful, her husband is distant, and her to-do list is never really done. The one thing she has to look forward to is her book club, a group of Charleston mothers united only by their love for true-crime and suspenseful fiction. In these meetings, they're more likely to discuss the FBI's recent siege of Waco as much as the ups and downs of marriage and motherhood.

But when an artistic and sensitive stranger moves into the neighborhood, the book club's meetings turn into speculation about the newcomer. Patricia is initially attracted to him, but when some local children go missing, she starts to suspect the newcomer is involved. She begins her own investigation, assuming that he's a Jeffrey Dahmer or Ted Bundy. What she uncovers is far more terrifying, and soon she--and her book club--are the only people standing between the monster they've invited into their homes and their unsuspecting community.

We were super excited with our over-the-top registration numbers for the recent More Monarchs! Grab & Go Milkweed Seed Planting Kits (25!) and our Herb of the Month Club Kits (24!). Extra kits were made to accommodate all the people on the waiting lists. It is now a week after the original pickup dates for the kits and we still have 10+ kits for each program that have not been picked up. At this point, the kits are being offered to anyone who wants them. Come in and pick one up!

Please note that if you register for a Grab & Go program and can’t pick up your supplies on the day of the program, we will hold your kit for a week. We understand that life gets in the way sometimes. But we cannot hold your kits indefinitely. After a week, leftover kits will be offered on a first come, first served basis.

As we enter our busy time with Summer Reading Program just around the corner, please be considerate when registering for programs. If you cannot make a program, please be kind enough to cancel your registration online or with a quick call (845-895-3707). By cancelling, you allow us to alert someone on the waiting list who would be happy to take your spot. Please read the guidelines for programs, especially in terms of ages for children’s programs. If you have questions about a particular program, we are always happy to take your call.

Tickets are available at the library through May 11 for the Duck Derby, to be held at 3 p.m. May 13 this year, at Popp Park boat launch on Route 208 (next to Stewart’s).

Ticket buyers “adopt” a duck ($5 for one and $25 for a six quack), enter their adoptees in the May 13 race on the Wallkill River, and see if their duck is the winner! Ticket numbers correspond to the ducks’ numbered labels, so if you have ticket number 500 and duck number 500 wins, so do you! First prize is $500; second is $250; and third is $100. Sales benefit the Wallkill Senior High School’s graduating class.

The event is sponsored by Vision of Wallkill and the Wallkill High School Senior Celebration – details and rules are available on their Facebook pages. For tickets or more information, you can call or text VOW at 845-325-2329 or the Senior Celebration at 845-728-0606.  

The Wallkill Public Library's Spring Tiny Art Show will be on display through May 1 in the library.

Participants in the Tiny Art Show can pick up their canvases any time after Monday, May 1. Thanks for a great show! We were really pleased to see so many different ideas. We look forward to showcasing our talented patrons again soon!

Patrons voted for their favorite mini-masterpiece and the winners are as follows:

Two weeks to fill out your card!

Spring 2023 Adult Book Bingo cards are available at the library circulation desk. For each challenge square you complete, you will receive one raffle ticket to be entered into a drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card. Earn extra tickets by completing a BINGO (across, down or diagonal rows) or by completing a "blackout" (all squares). All cards must be turned in by May 15, 2023. The drawing will be held and the winner will be notified on Tuesday, May 16, 2023. Good luck to all!

Upgrade to Libby today

As a reminder, the OverDrive app for iOS, Android, and Windows 8/10 will be sunset on May 1, 2023. After that date, users who try to access your library’s collection in the app will see the following message, informing them they need to upgrade to Libby:

Users can sign up for a virtual training hosted by OverDrive or access Libby Help for step-by-step instructions and videos that explain how to use the app.

Applications are now available for Ulster County’s Summer Youth Employment Program!

To be eligible for the program, applicants must be between 14 and 20 years old, live in Ulster County, and meet income guidelines. Proof of family income must be included with your application packet.

Those interested can apply from now to May 19. For an application or for more information, visit ulsterworks.com or call 845-340-3170.

Spring Plant Swap

Wednesday, May 10, 2:00-8:00 PM

If you started too many seeds, or when weeding, raking and diving is done, bring your extra plants to the EXTRA EXCHANGE! 

Swap plants, seeds, knowledge, recipes and smiles on the library lawn this Spring! Exchange (no money involved) perennials, trees, bushes, flowers, herbs, and anything extra that might someone else might fancy. Find a new plant you'd like to incorporate into your gardening routine. Meet on the library lawn. All ages welcome!

Further details will be sent in an email prior to program. Registration is encouraged to gauge interest and see how to best proceed with the exchange. THANK YOU! 

Every Wednesday at 1 p.m. and Thursday at 6 p.m. the library hosts our Mahjong Clubs. If you’re a player or just interested in learning, join us! We supply the games and (a limited number of) 2022 cards. Just drop in, no registration required.

Coloring pages are no longer just for children! Join us for this creative and relaxing hobby. Just drop in, registration not required. Bring your own materials or use ours.

Coloring Club meets on Tuesday evenings at 6:00-8:00 PM.

Grab a project and come enjoy the craft of your choice, whether it's knitting, crocheting, diamond painting, coloring, embroidery, or cross stitch!

Adult Crafting meets on Thursday afternoons between 2:00-5:00 PM.

As May's flowers blossom, we say so long to a busy April in the Children’s Room!

We were so happy to welcome back Miss Susan for a spring-themed MogaWorks pop-up program. The kids had a blast celebrating spring with movement and music. We will see Miss Susan again during our Summer Reading Program season!

Our next pop-up program is Saturday, May 27

Are you hanging out at home this holiday weekend, looking for something engaging to do with the kids? Then come on over to the Children's Room for a staycation creation - we will celebrate the "unofficial" start to summer by making some colorful seasonal garlands to brighten up our homes! 

We honored Earth Day this April by learning about recycling, hands-on, in STEM. We also made “Earth Day Celebration Handprints” at Crafting Caboodles, repurposing old sprinkles as sparkles! For Arbor Day, we created puffy apple trees out of newspaper. You can sign-up for Crafting Caboodles to make crafts like these in-house or sign up for take-and-make versions to do at home!

Check out our bulletin board to see who is getting caught reading what! 

May is also Mental Health Awareness Month – we will have a special book display dedicated to this important topic.

Our themes for May are:

• Week 1: Children’s Book Week
• Week 2: Celebrating Moms!
• Week 3: Endangered Species Week
• Week 4: Space Week
• Week 5: Summer Soon!

• Our doors are open for library services including browsing for library materials, making copies, sending faxes, and using the public access computers.
• Our bookdrop is open for contact-free and after-hours returns of library materials. Be sure to secure DVD and BCD cases with rubber bands.
• Curbside delivery of pre-ordered items is available by request. Call the circulation desk at 845-895-3707 to make a pick-up appointment.
• Fine-free returns on everything, except museum/park passes.
• Inter-library loans are available between all RCLS libraries.
• Online programming, with materials necessary for crafts available for pickup at the library.
• In-person programming, with appropriate social distancing.
• Museum passes are available to Wallkill Public Library patrons for Boscobel House and Gardens, Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum, Empire Pass, Hudson Highlands Nature Museum, Hudson River Maritime Museum, Mohonk Preserve, Museum Village, and Storm King Art Center. Plus, more print-at-home museum passes available through the Ulster County InfoPortal on the library’s website.
• We are not accepting any donations of books or DVDs at this time.